Moistener and sealer.



J. N. STACY.

MOISTENER AND SEALER.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 26, 1910.

1,018,592. Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

COLUMBIA FLANOOBAPH co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES N. STACY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MOISTENER AND SEALER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES N. STACY, citi zen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moisteners andSealers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to moistening devlces for sealing envelops,packages, wrappers, etc., and the object of the invention the provisionof a moistener of a very slmple and effective character by whichenvelops, wrappers, and the like articles may have their adhesivecovered surfaces dampened, the Inoistener being so arranged that themoistening surface is normally carried n position for the mostconvenient and rapid operation.

One object of the invention is to provide a inoistener having a springactuated l d normally held in a raised position by sa 1d spring andcarrying a moistening pad on 1ts under face, the body of the devicecarrying a primary moistening pad with which the first named moisteningpad may be brought into contact when the lid is depressed, thusproviding for a very convenient means whereby the secondary moisteningpad may be dampened at intervals by contact w th the primary moisteningpad.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sealing device of thischaracter which is made in very few pieces, and these of very simpleconstruction.

A further object is to provide a moistening pad of the character abovedescribed in which the lid may be held normally closed, thus preventingthe evaporation of the moisture from both the primary and secondarymoistening pads.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of my clevice showing the manner of its operation. Fig.2 is a transverse section thereof, the lid being open. Fig. 3 is atransverse section thereof with the lid closed, and Fig. 4 is a planview.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingby the same reference characters.

Referring to these figures 2 designates a Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed August 26, 1910.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Serial No. 579,087.

base of any suitable character, preferably relatively heavy, andpreferably formed in one piece by casting or otherwise. This base ishollow as at 3 so as to contain within it a moistening pad t which mayconsist of layers of absorbent fabric or be composed of any suitablematerial adapted to retain a relatively large quantity of moisture.Preferably the bottom of the base is rounded as at 5, and the sides 6 ofthe base project out beyond this rounded portion. The lid may be cast ofsuitable material if desired with flanges to hold the moistening pad inplace. The side and rear walls of the base are recessed upon their upperedges as at S. This recess extends downward and rearward from the frontwall of the base so that the rearmost portion of the recess is thedeepest. The rear wall of the base, 9, is relatively thick and heavy andis provided with a recess 10 for the reception of a spring mechanism.

I'lingedly mounted upon the rear wall of the base is the lid 11 whichmay be of any suitable character and is provided on its inside face withthe .moistening pad 12 of absorbent material, this moistening pad beingsomewhat convex so as to be depressed into the hollow of the base andinto contact with the moistening pad 4-. IVhile I do not wish to belimited to any particular construction of lid, I preferably form the lidof relatively thin material and fold the edges of the material down andinward as at 13 and 14: and around the material of the pad so as toretain the pad 12 in position on the lid. The pad 12 is thus held inplace by the projecting edges 14 of the material. The lid may be cast,if desired, instead of being made of sheet metal.

As will be seen from Fig. 2 the lid is thinner at its forward edge thanat its rear edge and is adapted when closed to rest within the recess 8formed in the upper edges of the side and rear walls of the base. Thuswhen the lid is closed down a relatively tight contact is made betweenthe lid and the upper edges of the side walls of the base preventing theevaporation of the moisture and collection of dust. Preferably the lidis formed in one piece, and the base is formed in one piece.

The hinge whereby the lid is attached to the base is a spring hingewhich tends to force the lid upward unless the lid is positively helddown. To this end I provide 'the member 17 of the hinge.

the lid with the hinge member 15 formed Also mounted within the cavity10 in any.

suitable manner is the hinged member 17. This is formed of sheet metalangular in section so as to provide a portion 18 which is turned downagainst the rear face of the base and attached thereto by screws 19.That portion of the member 17 which projects into the cavity is providedwith the cars 20 which aline with the ears 16 on the member 17. A pintle21 connects the ears 16 and 20 and surrounding this pintle is a coilspring 22 having one end attached to This coil spring acts to open thelid so that unless the lid is positively depressed it will remain open.In order to hold the lid in its closed position I preferably provide thebase at one end with a pivoted hook 23 which engages with a stud 21 onthe lid. Any number of these hooks may be provided so that the lid maybe held in tight engagement with the base to prevent the escape ofmoisture and collection of dust. When in use, however, the hooks arepushed back and the spring 22 acts to raise the lid into an inclinedposition, the lid being limited in its upward movement by shoulders 25formed upon the members 15 inside of the ears 16, these shoulderscontacting with the outer face of the hinge member 17 when the lid is inits raised position shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that my deviceis extremely simple, being made of four pieces, namely, the base, thelid, the spring hinge and the catch or hook.

By depressing the lid or cover into contact with the moistening pad 41,the moistening pad 12 receives a sufficient amount of moisture tomoisten the gummed sealing flap of a large number of envelops, wrappers,or like matter. One depression of the lid to bring its pad 12 intocontact with the pad 4 is sufiicient to cause the pad 12 to receiveenough moisture to moisten several hundred letters. It is to be notedthat the spring retains the Helm its raised position and at an angle tothe horizontal, thus holding the moistening pad 12 in a particularlyconvenient position for operation and so that the letters can be sealedeasily and quickly drawn across the absorbent moistening pad 12 when inuse.

The manner of using my device is as follows: lVater is placed in thecavity of the base, the lid is forced downward and the absorbent pad 12receives moisture from the primary absorbent pad in the cavity '3.

hen it is desired to use the machine the catches 28 are released, thuspermitting the lid to move upward to the position shown in Fig. 1 Themachine is placed on the table, the operator being at the rear of themachine in the position shown in Fig. 1. The letters to be sealed areplaced in front of the machine, the sealing flap resting on the table,the face of the letter beingupward. The letter is taken by the left handand brought toward the operator so that the sealing fiap comes incontact with the moistening pad of the lid as shown in Fig. 1,

the body of the letter rests on the bottom of the gummed portion of thefiap, the letter is pressed against the moistening pad 12 by a slightpressure of the fingers of the left hand. It is thus moistened and theletters removed to the right far enough to become 1 disengaged from thelid and by a slight pressure of the thumb and finger of the left handthe letter is sealed. The right hand may be used in conjunction with theleft in removing the letter to the right from the machine after the flaphas received its moisture.

In bringing the letter in a position to receive the moisture, theoperator naturally pulls it toward him and at the same time presses theflap with his fingers against the moistening pad. It is for this reasonthat the device is made with a heavy base so that it will stand firm inits place. The ordinary sponge holders and moistening devices now in useare of such light weight that they are easily tipped over when a heavyweight letter is being sealed The water being held by the moistening pad1 is not likely to splash about or to spill out of the cavity 3.

It has been found by experiment, that with a little practice theoperator can readily seal from thirty to sixty letters per minute. It issufficient to just moisten the fiap of the letter by drawing it quicklyacross the pad 12 and throwing it down without any direct pressure uponthe flap. l/Vhen fifty or so letters have been thus moistened and laidone on top of the other a downward pressure of thehand on the pack willseal the whole pack at once. An expert in this way is able to seal fromseventy-five to one hundred envelops per minute, but this, however,requires considother like absorbent material which will retain water andfrom which the water can not be too easily squeezed.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is 1. Amoistener of the character described, comprising a base having upwardlyextending side walls, a primary moistening pad contained within thehollow base and disposed below the upper edges of the side walls, a lidhinged to the upper edge of the base, a spring acting to raise the lid,a stop for limiting the upward movement of the lid, and a secondarymoistening pad disposed in a cavity in the middle of the lid and spacedfrom the side edges of the lid, said pad projecting beyond the insideface of the lid and into contact with the primary moistening pad whenthe lid is closed, the side edges of the lid extending inward to form amarginal surface surrounding the secondary moistening pad.

2. A moistening device of the character described, comprising a casecontaining absorbent moistening material and a lid hinged to the caseand adapted to close down over the same and prevent the introduction ofdust into the same, said lid having an absorbent pad mounted on itsinner face, the side edges of the lid extending inward to form amarginal surface surrounding the absorbent pad and spaced from the sideedges of the lid, the pad projecting beyond the face of the lid andbeing adapted to be brought into contact with the absorbent material inthe case when the lid is closed, means for holding the lid closed, andmeans for holding the lid upraised in an angular position with relationto the case.

In testimony whereof I al'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES N. STACY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

